A STRONG squad of 40 swimmers aged between 9 and 19 from Pioneer 79 Swimming Club took part in the Lancashire County Swimming Championships held over two weekends in Livepool and Manchester.

The first event was held at Wavertree Sports Centre in Liverpool with the second held at Manchester Aquatics Centre In their Age Group Categories, 11 swimmers won medals.

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Elodie Smallwood had a very impressive meet, swimming in the 14 year age group, she won five medals in total over the two weekends, (two golds and three bronze medals).

Ben Havers-Strong, in the 12 year age group, and Ben Makin in the 13 year age group, both competed in the marathon of all swimming events – the 1,500m freestyle, with each of them taking a medal in their respective age groups.

Ben Havers-Strong won a bronze medal while team-mate Ben Makin took an impressive gold medal.

Niamh Robinson was competing in the 16+ girls age group, she had some outstanding swims, winning age group gold medals in the 50m/200m Breaststroke and the 200m Individual Medley events along with silver medals in the 400m Individual Medley, 100m Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. Niamh also went on to successfully win medals in the Junior Championship (16 & Under) – seven gold, one silver and two bronze, along with three gold, four silver and two medals in the Senior Championship (16 & Over).

Tom Gilroy won bronze in the 100m Backstroke in his age group (16+ boys) then went on to secure his age group and Senior Championship gold medals in the final of the 50m Backstroke.

Harry Robinson was competing in the 10/11 years age category, winning two silver medals (50m Butterfly and Freestyle) and two bronze medals (50m/100m Backstroke). Harry’s standout swim was his 50m Freestyle where he set a new personal best to reach the final as fastest qualifier.

Mikaela Shackleton (12 years) swam a gutsy 800m Freestyle, taking a well earned bronze medal. Martha Smith (14 years) also had a great swim in the 50m Butterfly qualifying 4th fastest for the final, she produced a strong swim finishing equal third. Ewan McKavett (15 years) won a bronze medal in his age group in the 100m Butterfly, setting himself a new personal best.

And Ben Turland, competing in the 14 year age group had a sensational competition, winning three bronze medals.

The second weekend was exceptionally tough going with a number of swimmers spending up to 23 hours on poolside over the two days of competition. However, this most definitely did not reflect on their performances, the swimmers achieved many new personal best times between them and kept up their spirits and determination until the bitter end, cheering on their team-mates in the finals.

In the Age Group Top Club points, Pioneer 79 Swimming Club finished seventh out of the 37 clubs who scored points. However, in the Junior/Senior Championships Top Club points table, Pioneer 79 finished in fifth place, just four points behind Preston. During the course of the two weekends, Pioneer 79 swimmers appeared in no fewer than 70 finals, achieving 94 top six finishes.

The other swimmers competing were; Jozef Gordon, Tom Perkins, Joe Murray, Matt Sharpe, Tom Baynes, Dylan Slater, Harry Bentham, Beth Hartwell, Izabel Forrest, Ellie Ward, Charlotte Dunn, Abi Murray, Ellie Perris, Simone Ellson, Olivia Nicholls, Alice Harding, Meghann Leaver, Emily Sharpe, Gabrielle McSorley, Isabel Martin, Lily Gregg, Maddie Rogan, Katherine Waters, Jasmin Lahey, Abbie Hewitt, Jessica Simpson, Baylie Seery-Kelly, Kenzi Ormerod and Emily Nuttall.